Erie County Legislature invests additional funds into ECC for 2016

Submitted

Mon, Dec 7th 2015 12:50 pm

Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick announced the Erie County
Legislature approved an additional $254,317 for Erie Community College in the
2016 budget. The additional funding brings the county's total investment to
$16.2 million for ECC next year.

"Erie Community College is the 'Peoples' College of Erie County,' and
it is at a crossroad," Hardwick said. "This additional funding will help ensure
the college achieves its twin goals of providing a quality education to those
who might otherwise be unable to afford it, and helping train the workforce of
the future."

"We at ECC thank the Legislature for their continued leadership and
support of our education-based mission," ECC President Jack Quinn said. "These
additional funds will certainly aid that mission, and we look forward to finding
more ways to work with the county to further support our students."

Hardwick urged County Executive Mark Poloncarz to support this
additional funding priority in next year's budget. He said the additional
funding was added into the 2016 budget without increasing overall spending in
the next fiscal year. In fact, the Legislature lowered the property tax rate
for the second consecutive year.